The fight for the second click. Councils of Jacob Nielsen.
Different traffic sources imply different reasons why users leave your site. Let's figure out how to keep the attention of those who follow links to internal pages and make them click again.
Today, the percentage of users who arrive on the internal pages of sites is becoming more and more compared to those who start the journey from the main page. Nevertheless, the main page is important, and you should continue to ensure the proper level of its usability for two main reasons:
* The home page of the site, as a rule - the sole leader in the number of visits. After all, the "deep entry points" are dispersed among a considerable number of internal pages.
* Home Page - a landmark for visitors who have come to the links in depth, the point where they decide whether to explore your site further.
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For many sites, the statistics of growing deep entries are disappointing: it leads to an increase in the bounce rate.
The bounce rate is the percentage of users who, having opened one page of your site, immediately leave it or close the browser window. These people never visit other pages.
No more "unique visitors"
If the bounce rate grows, we must stop using “unique visitors” as an indicator of site success. "Guest performers" who leave the site after viewing a single page, dramatically increase the number of unique visitors, but do not represent value in the long term. On the contrary, these “refusers” are a negative statistical sign: it means that the site could not be carried away by them so that they looked through at least one more page.
A sign of the success of the site should be considered only loyal users - those who return to you regularly. Or, if the nature of your site is such that most people visit it only once, demand at least minimal participation from them before considering them a positive sign.
In the pursuit of unique visitors, you can lose your position in the long term - if you come up with zamanuhi, instead of providing those functions that will lead people back and make them your readers or buyers.
Analysis of failure rates by input sources
Web analytics is a dangerous game, like all quantitative methods. If you do not measure what you need, your metrics will not just be weak - they will lead you in the wrong direction and may lead to choosing an erroneous strategy that will reduce the practical value of your project.
In this case, it is important to understand that a single failure rate simply does not exist; You should analyze failure rates separately for each of the four types of visitor sources (positioning these types according to the degree of interest in your resource):
1. Unimportant reference sites, such as Digg. People coming from such sources are highly inconsistent and may not be your target audience. Be prepared for the fact that most of them leave the site immediately, as soon as they satisfy their lazy curiosity. Consider traffic from Digg and similar sites like a sauce; Do not worry that such a source has a high bounce rate.
2. Direct links from other sites. These links are the equivalent of an unobtrusive recommendation: "This site may interest you." People who follow such links do not express a clear intention to devote time to your topic to the extent that the person who has typed a specific search query expresses this desire. Of course, these people also have an interest share, so a high failure rate for them indicates problems with user experience.
3. Search engine traffic, from both organic promotion and paid ads. By clicking your link, these users express a clear interest in the topic and, in theory, should be carried away by its content. If they leave immediately, it’s a wake-up call: there’s something wrong with landing pages.
* Remember: for some keywords you will occupy high positions, even if you do not satisfy the needs expressed in these words. Obviously, people who do not find what you were looking for will leave. But after all, they are not your customers, so you should not worry about the high rates of refusals from these visitors.
4. Loyal visitors who return to the site regularly. On the one hand, you expect maximum attention and participation from your fans. On the other hand, they may not always show it during each visit if they come often. As long as people keep coming back, it's okay if they leave after viewing one or two pages.
* Example: after the notification of a new article in the Alertbox is sent to subscribers, the influx of visitors to the specified page begins. But only 10% of these people click on other pages. And this is to be expected, because longtime subscribers have already read most of the articles.
Achieve another click
Your bounce rates will vary depending on the group of visitors. But, apart from insignificant visitors, you should strive to reduce bounce rates.
First of all, test your site with the help of representatives of these groups. Almost always you can find aspects that repel visitors - low-quality design, sloppy content, or intricate navigation.
Secondly, suggest the following steps to those who are interested in a separate page. There are two good approaches to this issue:
* Single-line link offering to read further or to open the topic more carefully. Let this link be at the bottom of the page where people hopefully would like to know more. (But do not use the inefficient way that sends people to "other articles" without specifying specific headings.)
* Situational links such as “Read also” can provide many paths to those places that really interest people who have read a particular page. For this purpose, the more accurate the headlines, the better.
And thirdly, if you have a product or service that motivated a visitor to click on a “deep” link to your site, you should say this directly and provide a link, instead of hoping that people will find the right page while surfing the catalog your goods.
translation of the article © Jacob Nielsen
Today, the percentage of users who arrive on the internal pages of sites is becoming more and more compared to those who start the journey from the main page. Nevertheless, the main page is important, and you should continue to ensure the proper level of its usability for two main reasons:
* The home page of the site, as a rule - the sole leader in the number of visits. After all, the "deep entry points" are dispersed among a considerable number of internal pages.
* Home Page - a landmark for visitors who have come to the links in depth, the point where they decide whether to explore your site further.
')
For many sites, the statistics of growing deep entries are disappointing: it leads to an increase in the bounce rate.
The bounce rate is the percentage of users who, having opened one page of your site, immediately leave it or close the browser window. These people never visit other pages.
No more "unique visitors"
If the bounce rate grows, we must stop using “unique visitors” as an indicator of site success. "Guest performers" who leave the site after viewing a single page, dramatically increase the number of unique visitors, but do not represent value in the long term. On the contrary, these “refusers” are a negative statistical sign: it means that the site could not be carried away by them so that they looked through at least one more page.
A sign of the success of the site should be considered only loyal users - those who return to you regularly. Or, if the nature of your site is such that most people visit it only once, demand at least minimal participation from them before considering them a positive sign.
In the pursuit of unique visitors, you can lose your position in the long term - if you come up with zamanuhi, instead of providing those functions that will lead people back and make them your readers or buyers.
Analysis of failure rates by input sources
Web analytics is a dangerous game, like all quantitative methods. If you do not measure what you need, your metrics will not just be weak - they will lead you in the wrong direction and may lead to choosing an erroneous strategy that will reduce the practical value of your project.
In this case, it is important to understand that a single failure rate simply does not exist; You should analyze failure rates separately for each of the four types of visitor sources (positioning these types according to the degree of interest in your resource):
1. Unimportant reference sites, such as Digg. People coming from such sources are highly inconsistent and may not be your target audience. Be prepared for the fact that most of them leave the site immediately, as soon as they satisfy their lazy curiosity. Consider traffic from Digg and similar sites like a sauce; Do not worry that such a source has a high bounce rate.
2. Direct links from other sites. These links are the equivalent of an unobtrusive recommendation: "This site may interest you." People who follow such links do not express a clear intention to devote time to your topic to the extent that the person who has typed a specific search query expresses this desire. Of course, these people also have an interest share, so a high failure rate for them indicates problems with user experience.
3. Search engine traffic, from both organic promotion and paid ads. By clicking your link, these users express a clear interest in the topic and, in theory, should be carried away by its content. If they leave immediately, it’s a wake-up call: there’s something wrong with landing pages.
* Remember: for some keywords you will occupy high positions, even if you do not satisfy the needs expressed in these words. Obviously, people who do not find what you were looking for will leave. But after all, they are not your customers, so you should not worry about the high rates of refusals from these visitors.
4. Loyal visitors who return to the site regularly. On the one hand, you expect maximum attention and participation from your fans. On the other hand, they may not always show it during each visit if they come often. As long as people keep coming back, it's okay if they leave after viewing one or two pages.
* Example: after the notification of a new article in the Alertbox is sent to subscribers, the influx of visitors to the specified page begins. But only 10% of these people click on other pages. And this is to be expected, because longtime subscribers have already read most of the articles.
Achieve another click
Your bounce rates will vary depending on the group of visitors. But, apart from insignificant visitors, you should strive to reduce bounce rates.
First of all, test your site with the help of representatives of these groups. Almost always you can find aspects that repel visitors - low-quality design, sloppy content, or intricate navigation.
Secondly, suggest the following steps to those who are interested in a separate page. There are two good approaches to this issue:
* Single-line link offering to read further or to open the topic more carefully. Let this link be at the bottom of the page where people hopefully would like to know more. (But do not use the inefficient way that sends people to "other articles" without specifying specific headings.)
* Situational links such as “Read also” can provide many paths to those places that really interest people who have read a particular page. For this purpose, the more accurate the headlines, the better.
And thirdly, if you have a product or service that motivated a visitor to click on a “deep” link to your site, you should say this directly and provide a link, instead of hoping that people will find the right page while surfing the catalog your goods.
translation of the article © Jacob Nielsen
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/40578/
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